Various furniture systems exist, particularly for offices, comprising worktops that can be combined and arranged in various ways to form furniture configurations ranging from a single table to complex furniture units for offices with several work stations. One of these furniture systems of the known type is described in the patent application EP-A-0670125 by the same applicant.
The known types of furniture systems generally comprise structural elements that can be combined to form a load bearing frame, comprising vertical uprights and cross-bars, on which the worktops and accessories are then fitted, such as partitions screens, shelves, trays and the like.
In addition to the need to be able to create furniture configurations of varying degrees of complexity during the design stage, the necessity is increasingly felt of being able to subsequently modify existing furniture configurations, without having to interrupt working activities for an extended period or having to rely on specialised personnel for the modification. Moreover, the common use of electrically-operated office machines and of cabled data networks increases the need for furniture systems in which the positioning of electrical cables, their inspection, maintenance and replacement do not involve difficult operations for those concerned due to the awkward or inaccessible position of the cables.
In the known types of furniture systems the requirements indicated above are only partially dealt with and resolved, and the main obstacle for the construction and flexibility and modification of furniture configurations is the presence of the above-mentioned load-bearing frame. Moreover, this load-bearing frame, consisting of a grid of vertical uprights and cross-bars, often makes the positioning of electrical cables for office machines difficult.
The aim of this invention is to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements, overcoming the limitations of the known type of modular furniture systems.
In order to achieve this aim, the invention relates to a furniture system comprising at least one worktop and a plurality of legs to support the at least one worktop, characterised in that the at least one worktop comprises a plurality of support plates fixed to its underside in predetermined positions, and linear guide means positioned on the underside of the worktop between at least two support plates, close to at least one edge of the worktop.
In order to achieve the aforesaid aim, the invention also relates to a furniture system of the above-mentioned type, characterised in that the at least one worktop comprises a plurality of support plates fixed to its underside in predetermined positions, and support arms for the overhand mounting of the worktops on the legs, each support arm comprising a support portion that can be fixed to one of the support plates of the worktop, and a coupling portion opposite the support portion and used to fit the support arm in the upper end of a leg.